One year later, Hoffman provided some of the group’s outstanding accomplishments:
•
4,423,000 out of 8,747,00 cubic feet of dirt had been moved.
•
885,0000 out of 3,164,000 square feet of pavement laid.
•
203,000 out of 695,000 square feet of sidewalks were completed with seven out of 30 miles of curbing finished.
•
Four miles of water mains were laid with eight more to go.
•
Three and a half miles of electric wiring was strung with another seven and a half needed to finish the job.
•
One bridge over the Los Angeles River was completed and open to traffic while a second was under construction.
Hoffman also announced even more ambitious plans for the following year. Studio City’s production facilities would spend almost $15,000,000 in construction costs between 1928 and 1929 to accommodate talking pictures. In addition, the studios, which now included Warner Bros., Universal and Paramount, budgeted a total of $29,900,000 for movies during that same time period. Land was also set aside for an airfield that would be home to airplane repair shops, hangars, and light airplane manufacturing plants. Hoffman told the press:
North Hollywood is destined to become the premiere manufacturing for airplanes, airplane motors, and other aviation accessories and supplies in California.… With the best facilities and accommodations for such an industry to be found in the nation, the San Fernando Valley will become a leading aviation center.
By the middle of 1929, Hoffman estimated that $30,000,000 worth of investments between the motion picture and aviation industries had been made in Studio City. Between 1929 and 1930, film companies associated with Studio City, with a budget of approximately $68,000,000, scheduled 687 motion pictures for production. In addition, Studio City was home to five tile factories and a flashlight manufacturer. The Apache Engine Company produced airplane motors while Bach Aircraft Corporation made passenger planes. Due to all of this impressive business activity, Hoffman was a very proud man who made the following observations after returning home from a motor trip:
Los Angeles is the best advertised city in the world.… I stopped overnight in a little town in Manitoba. Dropping into the hamlet’s only motion-picture theater, the first thing that caught my eye were the words, “Made in Studio City” flashed on the screen.… A few days later I passed through a hamlet in North Dakota and there the local theater flashed the same words.… The process is an endless chain of advertising.… A conservative estimate of the number of theater patrons who have seen the slogan flashed on the screen would be around 100,000,000.… That’s why Los Angeles will forever carry on.
In addition to his duties as president of the Central Motion Picture District, Inc. and his involvement with the building of Studio City, Hoffman remained with Paramount until 1941. He then worked for several other studios including RKO. Studio City, now home to more than 25,000 residents, may have carried on, but Hoffman died on July 21, 1952 at the Motion Picture Country House after a lengthy illness.
Chapter Twenty-One
BUSINESSMEN, ARTISTS AND MEDIATORS
While Fred Beetson was in charge of the Casting Bureau and a leading figure in the MPPDA, he also worked closely with movie czar Will Hays compiling a list of what came to be called “The Formula” or “The Don’ts and Be Carefuls.” Hays hoped that these guidelines would placate local censors while giving filmmakers a solid sense of what was acceptable on-screen and what wasn’t. The following laundry list was published in October 1927:
Resolved, That those things which are included in the following list shall not appear in pictures produced by the members of this Association, irrespective of the manner in which they are treated:
1.
Pointed profanity—by either title or lip—this includes the words “God,” “Lord,” “Jesus,” “Christ” (unless they be used reverently in connection with proper religious ceremonies), “hell,” “damn,” “Gawd,” and every other profane and vulgar expression however it may be spelled;
2.
Any licentious or suggestive nudity—in fact or in silhouette; and any lecherous or licentious notice thereof by other characters in the picture;
3.
The illegal traffic in drugs;
4.
Any inference of sex perversion;
5.
White slavery;
6.
Miscegenation (sex relationship between the white and black races);
7.
Sex hygiene and venereal diseases;
8.
Scenes of actual childbirth—in fact or in silhouette;
9.
Children’s sex organs;
10.
Ridicule of the clergy;
11.
Willful offence to any nation, race or creed;
And it be further resolved, That special care be exercised in the manner in which the following subjects are treated, to the end that vulgarity and suggestiveness may be eliminated and that good taste may be emphasized:
1.
The use of the flag;
2.
International relations (avoiding picturizing in an unfavorable light another country’s religion, history, institutions, prominent people and citizenry);
3.
Arson;
4.
The use of firearms;
5.
Theft, robbery, safe-cracking, and dynamiting of trains, mines, buildings, etc. (having in mind the effect which a too-detailed description of these may have upon the moron);
6.
Brutality and possible gruesomeness;
7.
Technique of committing murder by whatever method;
8.
Methods of smuggling;
9.
Third-degree methods.
10.
Actual hangings or electrocutions as legal punishment for crime;
11.
Sympathy for criminals;
12.
Attitude toward public characters and institutions;
13.
Sedition;
14.
Apparent cruelty to children and animals;
15.
Branding of people or animals;
16.
The sale of women, or of a woman selling her virtue;
17.
Rape or attempted rape;
18.
First-night scenes;
19.
Man and woman in bed together;
20.
Deliberate seduction of girls;
21.
The institution of marriage;
22.
Surgical operations;
23.
The use of drugs;
24.
Titles or scenes having to do with law enforcement or law-enforcing officers;
25.
Excessive or lustful kissing, particularly when one character or the other is a “heavy.”
To prove their sincerity, Hays and Beetson continued meeting with various groups around the nation to discuss their mission—keeping Hollywood sin-free. Beetson assured a group of women at a New York film conference, where twenty-one states were represented, that filmmakers were fully committed to working with them to ensure that future movies would not be offensive, but acceptable to all. Of course, that was well before the Catholic Church declared that watching an immoral film was sinful.
Continuing on his path of protection, Beetson advised the Vocational Guidance Association at one of their luncheons that child actors were carefully monitored and only worked under the strictest of conditions. While at the studio, minors had to be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times. During a normal eight-hour day, children worked just four and, for the remainder, were either tutored by professional teachers or closely supervised at play. He even solicited suggestions for improving child working conditions promising the g
roup that each and every idea they offered would be seriously considered.
By 1930, The Motion Picture Production Code had replaced “The Don’ts and Be Carefuls.” This new code was based on three general principles:
1.
No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.
2.
Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented.
3.
Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.
Various restrictions were also spelled out including no nudity or suggestive dancing. Reference to venereal disease and scenes depicting childbirth were forbidden. The sacred institution of marriage, along with the American flag, had to be treated respectfully. And since Prohibition was still part of the country’s climate, alcohol remained taboo. The list went on and on and on …
The studios, however, didn’t always adhere to Hays’ guidelines, which sometimes got them in trouble with local censorship boards. For example, Universal had an unexpected tangle with the judgmental ladies of Kansas. The wary women approved both Dracula (1931) and The Mummy (1932), but refused to allow the showing of Frankenstein (1931). They felt the latter was too gruesome and wanted several scenes, as well as all close-ups of the monster, cut. Warner Bros. also took some heat when Beetson personally contacted them about their taut drama, The Hatchet Man (1932) starring Edward G. Robinson as Chinese hit man Wong Low Get. Beetson strongly warned them against referencing “racketeering,” “gangs” and “gang rule” in their crime film. Unlike their real-life counterparts, movie gangsters were expected to tiptoe through their felonious acts.
Aside from keeping movies on the up-and-up, Beetson had his own personal problems to deal with. His wife Minnie filed for a divorce in 1931. She claimed that her husband often came home from work, ate dinner and then went straight to bed neglecting to “entertain” her. Minnie also accused him of being too busy, or too tired, to take her out. After all, a man in his position surely had tickets to all of the current movies and, as a Hollywood housewife, she certainly had a right to some amusement.
By the end of 1932, Beetson was recovering from his divorce with a new wife, Mabel Johnson, who formerly worked for the MPPDA. Hollywood was also getting back on its feet despite the Great Depression and the shift to sound. Beetson reported to the L.A. Times:
Activity in the motion-picture industry continues on an upward trend. Studios are steadily increasing production schedules.… There is a decidedly gratifying improvement in this industry which indicates a steady return to normalcy.
Normalcy was one thing, but Hays’ rules were another matter entirely. Studios were haphazardly picking and choosing their way down the list. Finally, in 1934, the Production Code became mandatory—not coincidentally, the same year that the Catholic Church formed their Legion of Decency. With millions of Catholics pulling together to save themselves and their children by boycotting movies and taking the heartfelt Legion of Decency pledge, Hollywood had no choice but to pay attention. Even the Pope chimed in, advising his flock that they had a moral obligation to clean up the cinema. With many theaters experiencing a 40% decrease in ticket sales, everyone’s bottom line was affected—not to mention the bad publicity. The Production Code seemed more important than ever until unsettling world events and a war directed everyone’s attention elsewhere.
As World War II unfolded, Hollywood stepped up and so did the civic-minded Fred Beetson. He joined both the Hollywood Victory and the War Activities Committees. The Victory Committee gave celebrities and other filmmakers who were not on active war duty a chance to entertain the troops and participate in bond drives. The War Activities Committee was responsible for assistance with, and distribution of, government films throughout the nation. Hollywood suddenly became a place of heroes.
Before the war ended, however, the sixty-something Beetson experienced health problems, causing him to relinquish many of his duties including his position as president of the Central Casting Corporation. He continued working on an advisory basis for the MPPDA until his death on March 31, 1953. Looking back on his many accomplishments, Beetson’s sharp leadership skills, along with his high ideals, brought many long-term improvements to the fragile business of filmmaking. While he protected America, he also looked out for the players, the extras, the children, the animals and many others who needed a guardian to ease their way.
Along with Fred Beetson, big-time producer Charles H. Christie was also an executive of the MPPDA—at one time he even held the organization’s presidency. All the while, he and his brother, Al, continued churning out successful comedies and prize-winning pooches. They also purchased thirty acres in Studio City joining several other major studios like Paramount and Universal who were building updated facilities in the area. For the time being, the brothers agreed to use the property for exterior work only. All interior shots would continue to be filmed at their Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street location. Charles Christie announced their plans in late 1927:
Our present property in the thickly built up parts of Hollywood is cramped for motion-picture work. We feel that it is only a matter of a short time when we will find it necessary to move entirely from our present location on Sunset Boulevard. Our old studio site is more suitable for the building of close-in apartment-houses and the business enterprises which must serve a thickly populated residence district.
The following year, Christie was hit with a lawsuit. Actress Alys Murrell charged him with “breach of promise to wed, seduction and breach of contract.” She wanted $1,847,500 for damages suffered. Christie’s attorney, Warren Williams, described the charges as “just plain blackmail.” He further claimed that Murrell, also known as Alys B. Mims, had been trying for some time to extort money from Christie. One month later, the charges were dropped and the case settled out of court. Although the exact sum was not made public, the settlement reached was based solely on the breach of contract—seduction and the promise of wedding bells were nixed.
The Christies met the challenge of sound head-on promising that their comedies for the 1928-1929 season would be synchronized with music, sound effects and dialogue. Five hundred thousand dollars was budgeted for sound stages. The brothers also hired African American Spencer Williams, Jr. as a sound technician after hearing some of his work for a New York recording company. Before long, they noticed his talent for writing and soon paid him to pen stories. The Christies were also among the first filmmakers to produce talking pictures for African American audiences. Working with Harlem’s Lafayette Players Stock Company, they produced various musical comedy shorts based on a series of Darktown Birmingham stories authored by Jewish writer Octavus Ray Cohen and published in the Saturday Evening Post. Williams appeared in many of these shorts and eventually went on to television where he portrayed Andy Brown in the 1950’s series Amos ‘n’ Andy.
Bringing Up Oscar: The Story of the Men and Women Who Founded the Academy Page 28
